Planes are now dropping food and medicine as Israel cuts off the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, 134 hostages have been in Hamas’ stranglehold for 150 days and are probably starving. How long will her torment last?
In Doha they are again negotiating a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages. As they say, they achieved a result. We hear from the Israelis that they have agreed in principle. In principle, in this part of the world it means: non-binding, maybe or not, let’s see. As always, Hamas makes maximum demands and therefore the outcome of its efforts is left in the stars until it is either accepted or not.
(Source: private images)
To person
Gerhard Spörl has always been interested in global political events and changes, which of course also affect Germany’s role in the international structure. He worked in leading positions in “Zeit” and “Spiegel”, was a correspondent in the USA at times and now writes books, preferably on historical topics.
Aid supplies are now raining down on Gaza. Jordan has been dropping food and medicine for a long time, and the USA joined in at the weekend. Of course, transport planes can be loaded far less than trucks, but you have to be happy that humanitarian aid is at least coming from the air and perhaps providing a little relief.
Hunger causes despair
The trucks that entered the north last Thursday were organized in consultation between the Israelis and local Gaza businessmen. What then led to more than a hundred deaths, who was to blame for the anarchy and chaos depends, like everything in this region, on perspective. The German Foreign Minister is demanding clarification from the Israeli army about when and why its soldiers fired. Sounds like partisanship, a bit premature, doesn’t it?
People despair because of hunger. Hunger can drive them mad. Hunger can cause panic when a few trucks with food finally arrive. It is quite possible that people trampled each other, that the drivers, also panicked, maneuvered back and forth and ran over people. It is also quite possible that Israeli soldiers, perhaps just as panicked, fired untargeted into the crowd. We will probably only find out about the exact sequence of events at a later date, if it is even possible to reconstruct the terrible incident.
A crime
The UN says the people of Gaza need 500 fully loaded trucks on any normal day to live a normal life. Why actually? Hamas is showered with money from Europe and the Gulf, but apparently uses it not just for the two million people here, but primarily for its war of annihilation against Israel, or more precisely: against the Jews. That is why Hamas is responsible for the ongoing hardship in everyday life. Not only since October 7, 2023 has it forfeited the right to rule in Gaza as it sees fit.
However, Israel is responsible for the worsening famine these days. It would not be an insoluble problem to meet at least the most urgent needs for food, water, gasoline and medicine. The trucks should be allowed to enter the north and also from Egypt via Rafah. Israel’s cutting off and strangling of Gaza is a crime against humanity.
Wars change. The war in Gaza began as understandable retaliation for the massacre of 1,200 Israelis on October 7th. Of young people who had just been dancing. Of sleeping babies. They raped women and girls. They kidnapped hundreds, including elderly people, at random.
Many amputations
Of course, this raises primal fears when even life in Israel, with its highly praised army and its highly praised secret service, does not guarantee security. All of this deserves understanding, and more understanding, also from the public in Europe and America. But wars change their direction and their character, especially when the government only thinks in military terms and remains deaf to warnings and calls for prudence from its friends.
Around 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza. Unicef, unsuspected of partisanship, estimates that 17,000 children are wandering because their parents are either dead or have been separated from them. Possibly 1,000 children had to have either one or both legs amputated. Anyone who doesn’t feel compassion for them must have a heart of stone.
Must feel forgotten
Demonstrations against Netanyahu’s national-conservative government are taking place again in Israel. Some demonstrators hold the Prime Minister personally responsible for making October 7th possible and are demanding his resignation. The other demonstrators have been demanding that the hostages be released for weeks.
123 of them are back in Israel. There are still 134 somewhere in Gaza, in some tunnel, in some house, although there aren’t many left standing. Today is the 150th day of the war. So they have been in the custody of their captors for 150 days. Some are older and sick. The negotiations in Doha are particularly about them and women and children.
